Increasing urbanisation along with rising social, economic, and environmental precarity often renders a kind of “inevitable future” where design of cyberphysical systems, services, and cities tends to focus on adapting to and mitigating social and environmental damages. The current discourse surrounding smart everything (e.g. from homes to cities, and from wearables to vehicles) clearly exemplifies how “surveil-and-discipline” remains the dominant framing for our discussions and imagining of the future.
This future is not inevitable; it is just one of many possible futures. As many emerging voices across disciplines and sectors highlight, it is a problematic one, further silencing the already underserved, including those with less socioeconomic means, ageing populations, women, gender-diverse groups, people of colour, children, and other-than-humans. Design does not, and should not, need to reify this vision.
Doing care-full design calls for new ways of thinking about values, methods, and the scale/speed of how we do research, as well as who needs to be engaged in what way and when. It requires strong experience in transdisciplinary research and practice, and capacity to balance creativity-criticality and strategic-tactical approaches in an agile manner. Care-full Design Lab brings together a unique group of researchers with these capabilities to become an internationally leading catalyst for transformational urban future-making.
We seek research candidates who are passionate about exploring transformational possibilities of care-full design through transdisciplinary research and practice in/across different fields of design – including but not limited to interaction/experience/service. Creative-Critical explorations with methods are highly encouraged.
Acknowledgement of Country
RMIT University acknowledges the people of the Woi wurrung and Boon wurrung language groups of the eastern Kulin Nation on whose unceded lands we conduct the business of the University. RMIT University respectfully acknowledges their Ancestors and Elders, past and present. RMIT also acknowledges the Traditional Custodians and their Ancestors of the lands and waters across Australia where we conduct our business - Artwork 'Luwaytini' by Mark Cleaver, Palawa.
Acknowledgement of Country
RMIT University acknowledges the people of the Woi wurrung and Boon wurrung language groups of the eastern Kulin Nation on whose unceded lands we conduct the business of the University. RMIT University respectfully acknowledges their Ancestors and Elders, past and present. RMIT also acknowledges the Traditional Custodians and their Ancestors of the lands and waters across Australia where we conduct our business.